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Monthly Archives: March 2014

Life is amazing and exciting and as I begin the adventure of racing this 2014 season I am delighted to be part of a movement that is making our world a better place.

Racing for Orphans with Down Syndrome (RODS) is a qualified 501(c)3 charitable foundation with all tax deductible donations going towards uniting these special children with a family.

Racing to raise awareness for a more loving and accepting world is something I can get behind racing my heart out for. Do you feel the love? You should because it makes us strong.

When Brady Murray (founder of RODS) talks about the blessing of being fortunate enough to have or adopt a child with Down syndrome, this resonates with me. It is a gift not a burden to have a special child in your life. I have a younger brother with special needs and as much as you would think that the older brother would be the one doing the teaching, my younger brother has taught me much more about life than I have for him. He has the biggest most pure heart. He helps me tune into the finer qualities of life, the things that matter most; love and friendship. He keeps me humble and patient, qualities I’ve had to work on. He keeps me open and honest, qualities we can always improve on.

My little brother is awesome, he might not fit into the system as well as some of us, but that is the systems fault. I am thrilled to be a part of RODs Racing to help bring out awareness. Awareness that we can do better. Awareness that we can make this a loving world for everyone in it. Awareness that we can be the change we want to see in the world.

Training and racing for me is about empowered play. Finding my best self while losing myself, focusing on form while being formless. Becoming the action through non-action brings out the most powerful reaction. Having a cause like RODS to race for will only embolden the play. Play can’t be serious!? But play can accomplish amazing things.

By Kevin Everett

Head Triathlon Coach for Treasure Valley YMCA’s

& Professional Triathlete

I have been eating JETE Bars since 2010 when my mom started experimenting with a healthy nutritionally rich snack. At first I enjoyed them even though gluten seemed not to be an issue for me. How could it be? I was training and racing as a professional triathlete, I felt good most of the time if not just about all the time. Yet my mom, who found out in 1979 that she was intolerant to gluten, kept suggesting that my subtle symptoms might be due to the same intolerance. ‘No way’, I would think, feeling threatened about losing a source of tasty and easy to eat food. Mostly from the fact that I couldn’t fathom giving up all things wheat; I obtained massive amounts of pleasure from these gluten foods.

With enough jabbing she convinced me to try a gluten free diet for an upcoming race. Comforted by the fact that she would make sure I had plenty of JETE bars helped immensely curb the desire for yummie wheat products. About a month before the 2012 Ironman Arizona race I cut out all things wheat. The race was exceptional and I noticed improvements to my health. Unfortunately, this meant facing the fact that gluten might be holding me back and I may have eaten my last doughnut.

That race helped to continue being gluten low, I would avoid gluten but I did not obsess about saying, “No thank you, I can’t eat that; I have a gluten allergy”. I really wanted to avoid being that guy.

I have been gluten low since October 2012 and gluten free since August 2013 and it has been a long road of nutritional discovery to get here.

I have had two accidental doses of gluten since late summer, fries at a restaurant that were fried together with other batter that contained wheat and some salsa that was using gluten as a ‘filler’. Both times a couple hours later my gut cramped up and it had me moaning in pain. I have no problem being the guy that now says, “No thank you, I have a gluten allergy.”

With my tolerance down, ingesting gluten floors me. It amazes me to think back over the last couple decades that my body dealt with the subtle and not so subtle ‘poisoning’ pretty well.

Improvements since being gluten free:

*At age 38 I had my best season ever including winning the LA Triathlon.

*Without a doubt my digestion is, let’s say, more solid all-around.

*My weight has come down (from mid-160’s to mid-150’s).

*A skin rash, on my lower left leg that baffled me and my dermatologist for over a decade, vanished.

*I had learned to deal with bloating not even noticing it as a symptom, in hindsight is sucks and I no longer need to deal with it.

*This ties in with my all-around more solid digestion; no more gas.

*I eat better due to the simple fact that I have to carefully choose less processed foods and seek out more whole foods.

*Every indication from my training and racing as a professional triathlete shows improvement across the board. I am healthier and more fit at age 39 than I have ever been in my life.

*With the help of healthy choices like JETE Bar I no longer miss doughnuts…well sometimes my wife does have an awfully yummie looking croissant.

I have been using the JETE Bar for everything from snacks, to meal replacements, to dessert while eating them before, during and after training and racing. The process of going gluten free would not have been as empowering or as enjoyable without them.

I am grateful to my mom for opening my eyes and for her support. I would not have been able to start making the necessary changes without her help and guidance. She really makes One Mother of a Bar!™